Examine how Stalin's Red Army defeated Hitler's Fourth and Sixth Armies in the Battle of Stalingrad
Examine how Stalin's Red Army defeated Hitler's Fourth and Sixth Armies in the Battle of Stalingrad
In the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–43), the advancing Germans were finally stopped by the Red Army in desperate house-to-house fighting. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.In the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942), U.S. naval airplanes thwarted Japanese plans to occupy Port Moresby, New Guinea. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Department of Defense/National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.War in Europe ending with Germany's unconditional surrender, May 1945.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.What happened on December 7, 1941?
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Hear Encyclopædia Britannica editor Michael Ray talk about the hierarchy of the German chain of command in western Europe as it stood on June 6, 1944, using an infographic.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Romannerud/Dreamstime.com; German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 183-18483-0001As Soviet troops entered Berlin and the Battle of Berlin raged on, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.
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© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)An overview of Colossus, the world's first large-scale electronic computer.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Discussion of German and Soviet POWs during World War II.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, having negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 1939, being greeted by German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and other officials in Berlin. From “The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict” (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: But in Russia, Germany still had the upper hand. Hitler was in personal command, and his armies were smashing into the desperate Russian defenses [music out]. Forced back into the ruins of Stalingrad, the Red Army received its orders! "There is only one road, the road that leads forward. Stalingrad will be saved by you, or be wiped out with you." They dug holes in the rubble and fought back--and Stalingrad became a monstrous graveyard of shattered buildings, shaking walls, and rotting flesh. And then . . .
[Music in]
another Russian winter arrived. In the deadly cold of 40 below zero, the Red Army took the offensive. In four days they encircled the crack 6th Army, but Hitler would not permit any withdrawal, and the Russians just cut them to pieces.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: But in Russia, Germany still had the upper hand. Hitler was in personal command, and his armies were smashing into the desperate Russian defenses [music out]. Forced back into the ruins of Stalingrad, the Red Army received its orders! "There is only one road, the road that leads forward. Stalingrad will be saved by you, or be wiped out with you." They dug holes in the rubble and fought back--and Stalingrad became a monstrous graveyard of shattered buildings, shaking walls, and rotting flesh. And then . . .
[Music in]
another Russian winter arrived. In the deadly cold of 40 below zero, the Red Army took the offensive. In four days they encircled the crack 6th Army, but Hitler would not permit any withdrawal, and the Russians just cut them to pieces.
[Music out]
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